A report from Bloomberg says that a new filing in the ongoing court battle over the patent dispute between Apple and Google’s Motorola Mobility unit reveals that both sides would like to use binding arbitration to resolve the issues related to their dispute.
Arbitration would avoid the need for a further protraction of the ongoing court cases, moving the dispute out of the courts and into the hands of a neutral third third party who would review evidence and render a decision that both parties would be legally obligated to accept.
The companies have been trading proposals about using binding arbitration to reach a licensing agreement over patents that are essential to comply with industry standards. An agreement such as that could lead to a global agreement to cover all of their patent disputes, Apple said in their filing.
“Apple is also interested in resolving its dispute with Motorola completely and agrees that arbitration may be the best vehicle to resolve the parties’ dispute,” Apple said in the filing.
Arbitration would move the case out of the courtrooms and into the bailiwick of a neutral third party who would review the evidence and render a decision. Both parties would then be legally obligated to accept the arbitrators decision.
This signal that the two companies are willing to accept arbitration is another in a string of signs that companies may be willing to get away from such legal confrontations, as Apple and HTC recently announced a settlement in their dispute. However, Apple and their major legal and industry foe Samsung are showing no such signs of willingness to reach a settlement in their legal battle royale.
